Sticks and Stones
by alltheangelsinheaven
Summary: OOC, Reno has been adopted by President ShinRa and is attending a boarding school. BUT what happens when he is pushed to his breaking point? rated M for sexual situations and language. And violence. :D


**OKAY! so, I wrote this a WHILE ago. It's... uhm... well it's different. Not the best piece of writing ever, but personally I found it pretty funny when I reread it. Everyone is very much out of character, but nevertheless, I believe this was my first attempt at fanfic, so don't be TOO mean, okay?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy VII (or any of them) and, to be realistic, if they wrote anything it wouldn't be this bad lol**

**The below was already written when I found it...**

* * *

**Sticks And Stones**

**AU: Warning! rated M (?) for language, sexual innuendo, and sexual situations (Brief boyxboy). RENO BASHING I'm sorry I wrote Reno such a horrible life!**

**FORGIIIIVE MEEEEE**

* * *

Reno stared in horror at his bedroom floor.

Someone, in a fit of madness, had scrawled messy letters on his carpet in blue crayon.

**GO HOOOOME YOU USELESS TWAT FOR BRAINS**

Reno bit his lip, fighting back the tears. He turned around and ran into the bathroom, only to find more letters had been scrawled across the mirror above the wash basin in red paint, so that it had dripped down the smooth surface in a sick representation of blood.

**Dear slut, go get raped by a monkey before we get Genesis to do it for you!**

**ps. go home, no one likes you OR your cheating father! **

This time the tears would not be held back, and Reno gasped as a sob rose in the back of his throat.

He lifted the mirror off the wall and slammed it onto the ground, smashing it into hundreds of pieces.

They had been here, damn it! They had come into his own room and trashed it as if the owned the damn place!

Smashing the mirror had seemed like a good way to release his anger at the time, until Reno remembered he wasn't wearing shoes, and now the distance to the door was covered in shards of shattered glass.

Great. Just perfect.

The redhead reached into his pocket for his cellphone before realizing he had left it in his bag, by his bed.

He'd just have to wait for his roommate to come back, there would be no sense in trying to walk over the glass when it was highly unlikely he'd get to the other side without shredding his feet up.

Reno sat on the edge of the bathtub in resigned depression. It had been weeks, and they were still keeping up with the bullying. He'd thought that maybe if he gave it a few weeks it would die off.

But no.

It had only seemed to get worse. First they had used their gang beatings to satisfy themselves, until Reno's adoptive father, (president ShinRa) had caught wind of what was going on, and since then they had been more discreet.

Which was worse actually, now that Reno thought about it.

When you were being beaten up, you could fight back, or at least try to retaliate.

How could you fight something like no one talking to you, or 'losing' your books or shoes constantly, or finding hate messages typed onto clean white paper so it couldn't be traced back to anyone?

And now this. They had come right into his room and just blatantly trashed it.

Reno didn't want to think about what they would have done if he was in here as well.

He shuddered, hunching his slender shoulders, electric blue eyes downcast, staring at the tiled floor.

How had it even started? What had he done to aggravate them? Maybe it was his hair, or the slow drawling accent he talked with.

Maybe they just hated his father being president and felt like taking it out on him the only way they knew how; through his son.

But Reno hadn't told him anything.

He didn't want to have to face his fathers satisfied smirk when he said "I told you so. I told you they would all hate you."

He wouldn't give him the satisfaction of being right.

It had, after all, been his own idea to go to a regular school. It had all seemed so exciting to him, having been home-schooled for so long. He had looked forward to making lots of friends, or even maybe just one or two.

For the first day or so, people had been drawn towards him, whether because of his feminine features (which had always annoyed Reno to no end) or his long, spiky red hair, or the red marks that curved around under each eye on his angular face.

Maybe he just looked friendly, or seemed exciting because he was new.

But then... He had made a big mistake.

Thinking back, it was almost definitely the reason his life was hell now. But what else could he have done?

Some big boys had ganged up on him after school, and told him he was "fucking sexy" with "hips like a babe" and "skin so soft it would be like fucking with silk" and 'asked' if he would "get it on" with their boss, Genesis, (who Reno understood was a senior student), because he had caught his eye.

Of course Reno politely declined by saying "no way in fucking hell" and had made a run for it when they came at him like mad axe wielding murderers.

After that day, no one would meet his eye, or talk to him in class or out. They wouldn't even lend him stationary.

He couldn't really blame them.

One girl who had taken pity on him the day when his pencil case had 'mysteriously gone missing' and lent him a pen for the day, spent the next few days in hospital with bruises, a broken arm and a severe concussion.

It wasn't fair. It wasn't fucking fair.

Reno picked up a shard of glass, and threw it onto the ground again.

It clattered quietly, and then there was silence.

Complete and utter silence. The stuff of nightmares.

Well, Reno's nightmares anyway.

His father was actually supposed to be visiting today.

How was he going to hide this from him?

Maybe that was the idea. His father would finally see what a failure his son was, (even though it was partially his fathers fault for having won the election to be president under, suspicious circumstances- which basically meant the opposition hadn't thought they could possibly lose and were pissed as hell and wanted revenge). Or maybe not.

Maybe they really did just hate him so much they'd come in and trash his room and leave threats.

"Reno?" A voice in the silence.

Reno tensed.

Who was it? Had they come back, now that they knew he was in here? Did they want to gloat over how terrified he was, to laugh at him?

"Reno? Are you in here? Shit.. What the fuck is all this?"

The redheads shoulders slumped in relief. It wasn't them.

They hadn't come back for him, it was ok, they weren't going to hurt him...

Reno slid off the bath edge, falling to his knees amidst the splinters of glass, cutting his legs, but Reno didn't care.

Hot, stinging tears welled up in his eyes, spilling down his pale white cheeks. His shoulders shook gently, and his usually bright blue eyes were dull with disgust and annoyance at himself.

He couldn't even stand up, God he was so fucking useless, no wonder everyone hated him..

"Is he in here?" Another, softer voice joined his roommates'.

"I- wait," was the reply.

Footsteps now, stepping carefully over the clothes and possessions that had been scattered all over the ground.

A black haired boy appeared in the doorway, followed by a pretty boy with fair hair and a face as feminine as Reno's own.

"Shit!" The raven head stepped gingerly over the glass strewn floor, kneeling beside his trembling roommate.

"Zack.." Reno managed to force the name out, before the tears came in full force, and he couldn't speak for the sobs catching the words in his throat.

Zack surveyed the mess around them with concern. "Cloud," He turned, talking to the short blonde behind him. "Go get a first aid kit, I'll get Reno out of here." Cloud nodded and ran from the room.

Reno had stopped crying, but his eyes were blank and emotionless, his face streaked with tear stains. His face was devoid of any emotion too, and that scared Zack.

He knew it had been getting worse, but to trash their room like this... It was too far. He'd never seen him like this before.

Zack hoisted Reno up by his waist, slinging him gently over his shoulder, ignoring the whimper the redhead gave as his damaged legs knocked against the ebony haired boy's chest.

Clearing a space among the wreckage of their once tidy room, Zack sat Reno down on the edge of the bed, just as Cloud returned, out of breath and clutching a white container sporting a bright red cross on the side.

He knelt beside Reno and opened the kit, and Zack felt a moment of relief that the damaged boy was wearing shorts. Otherwise they would have had to cut them open, and he doubted the experience would have been a pleasant one. That and the fact that it was his last pair of pants... (The other ones had gone missing and turned up a week later with the seat missing and splotches of black paint all over them).

Reno hissed in pain as Cloud started pulling the pieces out, one by one. Some were big, and had left deep cuts in his leg. Others were smaller, and much harder to get out, but eventually they were all relocated to a small pile of glass shards beside the bed.

As Cloud gently applied the antiseptic to the bloody mess on his legs, Reno shuddered, and reached out a hand to grasp Zacks arm. He screwed his eyes shut, trying to block out the sharp pain, but it was useless.

More tears leaked from under his closed eyelids, but Reno refused to collapse into the shudders and sobs that had claimed him before.

He wasn't some weak sniveling baby who would be reverted to a shivering wreck because he'd fallen onto some glass, or been beaten, or verbally attacked by his classmates (even though he already had).

Suddenly he felt a surge of anger mingle with the pain in both his heart and legs.

It wasn't right. THEY had no right!

Reno opened his eyes.

He pushed away Clouds hand, and stood up stiffly, ignoring the stabbing pain in his legs.

Walking out the door, the enraged red head grabbed a baseball bat that had been lying there since the start of the term. He'd never had the chance to use it; he'd been planning on trying out for the school team before Genesis and his gang had ruined everything.

Everything.

Zack and Cloud called after him, tried to follow him from the room, but Reno ignored them. He shut the door behind him and locked it with his key, ignoring the bangs on the door as he made his way down the hallway.

He knew where to go.

Back when they had been physically beating him, they had dragged him to see Genesis and Sephiroth, (Genesis' lacky), so that Genesis could take a good long look at the boy who had been stupid enough to turn him down.

And then kick his guts out and break a few ribs.

But they'd the mistake of showing him where they hung out. Because he'd never be a threat, Reno thought with vicious satisfaction.

He walked the route he'd dreaded for so long now with cold determination.

A little boy dodged out of his way when he saw him coming, and Reno noted that he looked positively terrified and oh did it feel good.

He reached the door that opened into Genesis' personal rooms. Because he was a senior, he got a suite of rooms, and only shared with one or two people, so his gang generally hung out in there, when they weren't terrorizing the local dairy or school girls going into the dairy.

Perverts... Reno snorted with disgust.

He kicked open the door with a loud cracking noise.

It had broken...

Reno smirked at the ruined door, and sauntered into the room.

Genesis wasn't there. In his place was Sephiroth, the second most feared in school next to Genesis.

He was lying on the couch coddling two beautiful girls that Reno recognized as Tifa and Elena. They were in some of his classes, and they didn't look too happy about being in here, in this room.

Stupid room.

It was downright ugly. The walls were a disgusting purple colour, and the furniture sported varying shades of puke.

As he burst into the room, Sephiroth bolted up from the puke-couch, sending Tifa and Elena tumbling to the floor.

"What the fu-" Sephiroth was cut short as Reno smashed the baseball bat against the side of his head, knocking him unconscious. There was a lot of blood, and for a second Reno was hopeful that he had killed the bastard, but he didn't dwell on it. After delivering a few more punishing kicks to the silver haired boys abdomen, Reno searched the other rooms for Genesis and the other lackies.

They weren't there.

Reno growled in frustration, and turned on the two girls trembling on the other side of the room.

"Where is he?" He stepped towards them, and Elena shrieked and stumbled backwards.

But Tifa, she knew what Reno had been through.

There had been many times, where, given the chance, she would have gladly done just as Reno had.

She stepped forward.

"I know where they are. Come with me." And with that she turned, and, pulling a tearful Elena along by the hand, lead Reno through the corridors to the fields outside.

Round the corner behind the buildings they went, further and further from the prying eyes of any interfering teachers.

Tifa stopped. "He's around the corner. Are you sure you'll be okay?" She asked, as if realizing for the first time that he was one boy all on his own wielding a baseball bat.

He blanked out her voice.

He was close, so close now. He turned the final corner.

And there he was, sitting there, making one of his disgusting lackies suck his equally disgusting dick.

The whole scene made Reno want to throw up.

Genesis looked up sharply when he felt someone intruding on his presence, but when he saw it was only Reno he smirked and visibly relaxed, allowing the boy on top of him to continue.

Reno drew in a sharp breath. For a moment he tried to control himself, but it was useless.

White-hot fury coursed through his veins, blinding him, and ran forward, lashing out with the bat.

Everything went black.

* * *

Reno had always been stronger than he looked.

Which wasn't especially hard, given that he looked as feminine as a guy could without actually having a sex-change. And Reno didn't see that as a good thing.

But after his parents had died, he found himself getting into quite a few fights at school, for no reason whatsoever. Boys his age just didn't seem to like him, or girls for that matter. And it wasn't just those in his age group either.

He was just.. Easy to hate. He never fought back verbally.

It always felt like he was blatantly ignoring you whenever you tried to talk to him, and through many years of fights against boys who were twice his height and age, Reno became quite a skilled little fighter.

It didn't change anything.

People had viewed him with pity, because 'it must have been a tragedy to lose them at such a young age.'

And it was. It had hurt so bad that Reno had somehow managed to throw up a wall in his mind.

He blocked all the pain, all the mind numbing pain that came when his parents had gotten into that car crash.

He tried to block the guilt, tried to tell himself that it wasn't his fault.

Everyone told him it wasn't his fault. It could have happened to anyone.

But it hadn't happened to anyone.

It had happened to Reno's parents. All because he hadn't wanted to go on the cross country run.

He'd always hated running, and he'd pretended he was sick, so his parents had been called in to take him home.

They were in town shopping for Christmas presents, (though Reno hadn't known that at the time), so they were both in the car when they turned a corner and were hit by a speeding drunk driver.

Neither of his parents survived.

The drunk driver and his family had said they were devastated that the accident had happened. Devastated that Reno's parents were dead. The police and judge promised the man would spend a long time behind bars, and a fine was taken from the drunk guys family.

Reno had seen them when the man was sent into jail. They were sad that he was being put away for one mistake, one that he would never make again, and said so on t.v. no less.

When the reporters outside the courthouse asked Reno what he thought, how he felt, the 5 year old had simply replied; "When can I see Mummy and Daddy again?"

Because he just hadn't understood what was going on.

How was he supposed to understand that his parents were never coming back? They always came back!

For years after that, whenever Reno lay in bed, he would shut his eyes tightly and imagine that his parents were right outside the orphanage he was staying in, and then they would come running in and scoop him out of bed.

They would explain to him that they hadn't abandoned him! Of course not! They had been on a big adventure in the Amazon jungle, and had gotten lost for a while, that was all. Then they would shower him with beautiful and interesting presents, and tell him all about their adventures. How they had found treasure in ancient pyramids, fought battles with ancient monsters, and eaten snake for their supper.

But...

Somewhere, deep, deep inside, Reno knew- had always known that they weren't really lost in the Amazon jungle.

They weren't lost anywhere, except for the place they had held in Reno's heart.

He became withdrawn, he barely ate, he barely talked.

His teachers noticed him becoming less and less enthusiastic about, well anything.

Reno had become a shell of what he used to be.

People his age had tried to talk to him. Some would try and make him play with them, others tried to compliment on his beautiful complexion, or his fiery red hair.

But Reno just pretended they weren't there. he threw up an invisible barrier against all his emotions.

Children his age were annoyed, because they thought that he thought that he was too good to talk to them.

Adults watched from the background, murmuring in worried, hushed tones, always watching, but never doing anything.

So by the time Reno was in primary school, he had been involved in numerous fights, and been relocated to numerous schools.

Nothing worked.

He wasn't getting better.

All his caregivers despaired that he would never be able to have a normal life.

He was probably going to end up being a delinquent.

Until the one day, he was relocated to another new school.

It was Reno's 11th birthday.

He walked into the classroom, and was told to sit next to 'Zachary Fair' and 'Cloud Strife' at the back of the classroom, and for the first time in several years, Reno found he had friends. Two loyal, caring friends, who wore down on his barrier until he began to laugh again.

He talked freely, and everything about him seemed to be lighter.

His smile was as infectious as a yawn.

Of course, all good things must come to an end, and soon Reno found to his great surprise, that his school days were over.

He was being adopted.

His friends, although sad to see him go, were loyal to the end, and promised to email, write letters and call as often as possible.

Reno was glad, truly happy.

And life with Rufus ShinRa was good. He was a good father, and Reno was allowed to meet up with his friends on a regular basis.

The only thing Reno missed was going to school with all his other friends.

Rufus ShinRa, and all his glorious money, had declared that Reno was to be home-schooled, and Reno sorely missed everything that school had to offer in terms of being social (he found his grades had sky rocketed through home-schooling).

His friends were entering their 10th year at school, and were thinking of applying to a private boarding school near the sea 'for the babes and the good weather'.

Reno had begged Rufus for days, weeks even, to get him to agree to let him go. Rufus had been reluctant, what with his election coming to a close. He already had plenty to worry about.

But after Rufus had become 'President ShinRa' he had gladly consented, "Although", he had warned, "You should be careful. I don't think they'll be very accepting of you."

Reno had waved away the warning.

Why would they not accept him? He had thought.

What could possibly go wrong?

* * *

Reno opened his eyes to find large, blinding lights hanging above his head.

He was lying in a hospital bed, wearing fresh, white clothes.

His head hurt.

His legs hurt.

It hurt to breathe.

He turned his head. Sitting in some spare chairs to his right, Zack and Cloud were sleeping.

To his left, a doctor smiled down at him.

"Good to see you awake! My name is Dr. Samuel. You can call me Sam." Reno nodded weakly. He was so very tired.

"Do you remember what happened to you?"

The boy shook his head from side to side.

"Nothing at all?"

Another shake.

It was true, he actually had no idea what had happened after he had left his trashed room.

"Well it seems that that boy, Genesis, I think his name was, was attacking you with all his friends. Now don't panic! It seems you defended yourself sufficiently enough!"

The doctor gave a jovial laugh.

"They won't be leaving the hospital for quite some time. Neither will that boy.. Oh what was his name... Sephiroth? Yes apparently some girls were being harassed and they retaliated. He.. Ah.. Well he'll be needing to grow back some hair... We had to cut some of it off to ease the pressure on his skull."

Someone to his right stirred into consciousness. Cloud.

"Reno?" The blonde youth rubbed his eyes blearily.

Reno smiled. He ached all over, and he had one hell of a headache, but despite all that, he felt happier than he had been in what felt like a very long time.

"I'll be okay," he whispered, as he sank into a warm, comforting darkness.

_Mum... Dad... I'm okay now._

_I'll be okay._

_Don't forget about me.. Wherever you are..._

_Love you :)_

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**hahaha, Reviews? let me know what you think ^ ^ no flames please**


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